Usain Bolts From UK Tax System
Jamaican speedster Usain Bolt celebrates after winning the men's 100 metre race during the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting 2010 at Daegu Stadium
Usain Bolt has withdrawn from next month’s Diamond League meeting in London for tax reasons.
Britain’s sports minister Hugh Robertson said he could intervene after Olympic and world 100m and 200m champion Bolt revealed he wouldn’t run at next month’s event because of Britain’s prohibitive tax rules. Robertson has alluded he could work something out with UK Athletics and promoters Fast Track.
“I’ve not had a direct approach from either the sport’s governing body or the promoters of the Crystal Palace meeting so I don’t know exactly what we are dealing with here,” Robertson said in an interview on BBC radio on Tuesday. “It is a problem we have come across and addressed with other sports and clearly if they write to me I will take it up with the treasury. It’s a problem across other sports.
“Golfers and tennis players have come to me, and I’m pretty sure that at the back end of the 2012 Olympic bill is a commitment not to tax overseas stars who come over to compete in the Olympics,” said Robertson. “If there is a particular problem (with Bolt) I’m happy to look at it and see if I can help.”
The British tax system means that Bolt would be taxed on his earnings at the lucrative event and also on a proportion of his huge personal endorsements throughout the year, even though he does not reside in Britain. It is a system that has already undermined Britain’s attempts to host some major sports events, including this year’s Champions League final, which was staged in Madrid rather than Wembley.
Robertson, however, said that it might be too late to prevent the world’s fastest man taking on Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay in a mouthwatering 100m in London. “Ideally (he will be at Crystal Palace) which is why I say when they write to me, I will see what I can do. Three weeks doesn’t give us a whole lot of time to organise a tax concession.”
REUTERS
Usain Bolt Switch To Other Events?
Usain Bolt
Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt may switch to other disciplines such as the long jump after the 2012 London Olympics.
Bolt said early today that he fears his fans will get bored with him if he wins the 100 and 200 metres at the 2012 Games, and he is eager to try new events.
“I’m not going to be one of those athletes who go on to do track and field until they’re 36,” Bolt said.
“If I win (in London), then I probably have to try something else because people are probably tired of seeing me.”
“I definitely want to try long jump before I retire,’” said Bolt, the reigning Olympic and world champion and world record-holder in the 100 and 200.
After a six-week injury layoff, Bolt returns to action in the Athletissima meet, part of the IAAF’s elite Diamond League series.
He will run the 100 instead of the 200 to avoid aggravating the Achilles’ tendon problem that has kept him out of competition since he won the 300m at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on May 27.
“The doctor said to me I should actually try to avoid running the curves,” Bolt said.
Bolt will face fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake and Antiguan sprinter Brendan Christian, but not his strongest rivals, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay.
Bolt said he was still “in decent shape” despite the injury layoff, but cautioned against expecting another record-breaking result.
“My aim is to finish the race injury-free,” he said.
Bolt said he expects to race Powell in Paris next week, but does not know when he will next get a chance to run against Gay, who returned from a hamstring injury in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday.
Courtesy of stuff.co.nz
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you think Bolt should switch events?
Injured Bolt Pulls Out Of Gay Showdown
Usain Bolt, the triple Olympic champion and world record holder, has withdrawn from the New York Diamond League meeting on 12 June with a tendon injury, organisers said today.
“I developed a stiffness in my achilles tendon last week and sought medical attention,” Bolt said. “After careful consultation with Dr Hans Müller-Wohlfahrt at his clinic in Munich I have been advised to take a two-to-three-week break as a precautionary measure to avoid risking further damage.”
Bolt had been expected to face the American Tyson Gay in a 100 metres showdown between the world’s two fastest men.
The Jamaican, 23, holds the world record for the 100m, 200m and, with his team-mates, the 4×100m relay.
With thanks to the Guardian.co.uk
Bolt Branded ‘Pathetic’ By Boffin
The accomplishments of Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt have been branded “pathetic” by a leading professor, at least when compared to other mammals, spikesmag.com reports.
In fact, Daniel Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University believes our long distance running achievements as illustrated by world marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie are far more impressive.
“The maximum sprinting speed of Bolt is around ten-metres-per-second which is well below the maximum galloping speed of most mammals,” Lieberman told The Times. “Bolt would be beaten by any dog or even a squirrel. A lion could go twice as fast for much longer. We suck. The truth is, as sprinters, man is pathetic.”
Lieberman in his paper, the Evolution of Marathon Running, was much more complimentary of the top distance runners who hit a pace of six metres per second for 26.1 miles.
He says over longer distances man could outrun all mammals even horses. This he says is because of man’s ability to keep cool. Most mammals slow down because they rely on panting as a cooling mechanism and this affects breathing. Lieberman says humans are ‘specialised sweaters’ meaning we can get rid of heat via a high density of sweat glands.
With thanks to SpikeMag.com
Powell Runs Fastest 100m This Season
The former world record holder Asafa Powell clocked the fastest time of the year when winning the 100 metres in 9.83secs at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting last night.
The world 100 and 200m record holder Usain Bolt failed in his attempt to add the 300m world best to his accomplishments on a damp evening in the Czech Republic.
The Jamaican Bolt, competing over the rarely run distance for the first time, came off the bend in front but could not keep up the pace into a headwind and finished in 30.97, just outside Michael Johnson’s 30.85 set in 2000.
Powell, overshadowed in recent years by his compatriot Bolt, was quick out of the blocks in the 100m final and looked relaxed throughout before finishing three metres ahead of the field.
The Olympic champion Bolt’s fastest time this year was 9.86 in Daegu, South Korea, this month. His world record of 9.58 was set at last year’s world championships in Berlin, where he also established a new mark for the 200 of 19.19.
With thanks to the Guardian.co.uk
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